


broken upon the rocks

by trykynyx



Series: a dare, a rage, an intolerable tenderness [1]
Category: Black Sails
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 09:30:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10214576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trykynyx/pseuds/trykynyx
Summary: “Know what you want, where you stand, and who stands against you,” her mother says, as they stand on the beach below the high cliffs to the west of the village compound. “Know these things, and your path will always be clear to you.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> content warning: gore, death, transatlantic slave trade mentions

“Know what you want, where you stand, and who stands against you,” her mother says, as they stand on the beach below the high cliffs to the west of the village compound. “Know these things, and your path will always be clear to you.”

The water roars as it slams against the rocks, trying to drag the earth into the ocean’s open mouth, roiling waves like an army, foamy blood tossed high as the sea does battle with the coastline. The ocean rages, and the noise should swallow her mother’s even voice, but Madi can hear each word clear as a bell as they stand looking up and up at the tallest precipice above them.

Madi can just see the outline of their scouts, heads peeking into view, then out of sight again. She does not understand the rocking rhythm of it until— a body flung into space. First one, and then another, the earthly remains of the sailors that had manned the wayward English merchant vessel that had stumbled upon the island. Their white shirts and navy blue coats seem impossibly vibrant as they plummet through the air into the hungry mouth of the ocean below.

One body is not thrown far enough, and the wet noise it makes when it hits the rocks echoes out toward them. Madi flinches, and she can feel her mother’s eyes on her.

“They stood against us,” she says firmly, watching again as the men she commands disposes of the evidence of their defense of the island. This is a teaching moment, a hard lesson from one queen to her successor.

(If there is a vengeful satisfaction, if there is a shadow across her face, a memory of her trip across the ocean, of black bodies thrown overboard like trash, that is a thing all her own, tucked away in a chest deep in her heart.)

Madi knows she has failed, has been weaker than she should have been, and pulls her shoulders back, lifter her head up high, mirroring her mother’s posture.

“They did stand against us,” she agrees. When the next body that falls short splits open across the rocks like a ripe fruit, she does not move a muscle.

“But not anymore.”

 


End file.
